Foodbank says more people than ever coming for financial advice over food
Today (January 14) Woking Foodbank celebrates its 12th birthday, however they say they are getting an increase in a new type of demand
Today (January 14) Woking Foodbank celebrates its 12th birthday, however they say they are getting an increase in a new type of demand.
Since they were formed in 2014, they have delivered just shy of 25,000 food parcels, however they tell us that the food is only a small part of the charity.
With cost of living still on everyone's mind, they tell us they are seeing more people than ever operate with negative budgets.
Negative budgets meaning people are spending more than they are earning
Alison Buckland is the founder and manager of the charity, she says it's important to give people the kind of support which will mean they don't have to keep coming back
"The food is a sticking plaster. It's an entry point for people getting help. It's not the end. People cannot continue to use the food bank. It's not good for them. It's not good for their mental health either. And it's just not good for anybody."
Alison added to the point of the rise in people coming in with negative budgets
"We're now seeing a lot of people on a negative budget and some people who perhaps do more than one job and they just can't make ends meet and people who have actually buried their problems and not addressed them.
And then sort of you come and there's a big backstory that there's a lot of debt built up over time and unpicking that is quite a challenge."
Alison added that due to how quickly the number of people in this situation is growing, one of the reasons as to why they're getting more people coming to help, is that other services simply don't have the capacity to do anything more.
"I think it is partly because people just are struggling to perhaps to know where to go for help.
A lot of the debt agencies nationally are actually at full capacity, including the National Debt Line and Citizens Advice is just getting to a point where they just can't take any more debt clients.
Which is why it's hugely important that we try and keep funding the support that we're giving the people."
Alison added that like most charities across the county, funding is the main cause of concern going into 2026.
"Sadly, it's financial, like lots of charities we are. We're in an area where people are so generous with food donations.
But it's just being able to pay those support workers and keep them on board really is the critical thing for us. If you come to a food bank and there's not someone there to try and help you, that's a sad state of affairs.
So sadly it's financial for that support and that's not to rent expensive buildings or anything like that. It's just to provide that support network for people"